Texas A&M's ﻿Kenny Hill, right,﻿ is taking over an offense that got plenty of exciting plays from its last signal caller and is doing so after a major learning experience in the offseason.

Texas A&M's ﻿Kenny Hill, right,﻿ is taking over an offense...

COLLEGE STATION - Kenny Hill led Southlake Carroll High School to the 2011 Class 5A state title, and the memories of that triumphant day are stark for Dragons coach Hal Wasson. But it's the reminiscences leading to Hill's becoming a champion - the ones some might gloss over but coaches grasp on to - that shine brightest for Wasson.

Because Hill, Texas A&M's new starting quarterback, made a healthy habit of staring down obstacles in high school and then staring past them with victory in mind.

"His sophomore year, we were playing in Cowboys Stadium," Wasson recalled of a 2010 playoff game against Colleyville Heritage in what is now AT&T Stadium. "First pass of the game, Kenny threw an interception. Here he was, a sophomore on that stage, and he came over to the sidelines upset. But he went right back out there and completed about the next 10 passes in a row.

"That's mental toughness, and Kenny has always had the ability to move on to the next play."

Hill is a sophomore all over again, only this time at a Southeastern Conference school and with the Aggies' opener set for Aug. 28 at league foe South Carolina. On Saturday, A&M coach Kevin Sumlin named him the successor to Johnny Manziel after Hill outdueled highly touted true freshman Kyle Allen in camp.

Because Manziel, now with the NFL's Cleveland Browns, roared to stardom two years ago and won the Heisman Trophy in 2012, Aggies fans know little about one of his backups last year. Hill played sparingly in four games (along with Matt Joeckel, who since has transferred to TCU in search of playing time). But Wasson said the Aggie faithful should know this: A&M has a winner on its hands.

"Kenny didn't just start training for this moment a month ago or even a year ago," Wasson said. "He's been training his entire career for this moment."

Hill, who's 6-1 and 215 pounds, adjusted that training following his March arrest on charges of public intoxication in College Station, and those who know him best vow he will learn from his mistake. At least one positive for Hill emerged from the arrest: his introduction to Richard Bartel, a former NFL quarterback and current Texas Rangers team chaplain, who helped train Hill during a suspension stemming from the arrest.

Going to work

"His father (former Rangers pitcher Ken Hill) called me not too long after the incident," Bartel said. "He knew I worked with quarterbacks as well. Kenny was willing to go to work, for sure. Kenny wanted to mature, and he wants to make good decisions moving forward, and he wants to be a great quarterback."

Hill was an acclaimed quarterback in high school, earning Gatorade state player of the year honors in 2012, a year after leading Carroll to its eighth state title. He threw for more than 5,000 yards and rushed for nearly 2,300 more over his final two seasons before choosing Aggieland over Baylor, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas Tech.

Now, Hill is tasked with trying to fill Manziel's cleats after beating out Allen, the nation's top-rated high school quarterback in the 2014 recruiting class.

"Kenny has been around this system for a year, he watched Johnny for a year, and he's going to be put in situations he's seen before," A&M offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said of Hill's edging out Allen for the starting gig.

Hill is considered more mobile than Allen, an aspect of which Arlington Martin coach Bob Wager is painfully aware. The Hill-led Dragons dispatched Martin (and current A&M defensive end Myles Garrett) in the playoffs in 2011 and '12, and Wager had a front-row view of Hill's tangibles - and intangibles.

"Kenny's just a ferocious competitor," Wager said. "He's a great kid, too. I had a chance to be around him and his family at a couple of banquets. He's tremendously poised and comes from one of the premier high school programs in America. He's just got a commanding presence about him, and as a dual threat, he's extremely difficult to defend."

Learning the hard way

Bartel, who works with quarterbacks of all ages and levels, didn't know Hill prior to his arrest, and now the two are confidants. Bartel said he couldn't be more proud of the strides Hill has made since his offseason arrest.

"Sometimes with kids, the oven has got to be hot and they have to touch it to find out," Bartel said. "Hopefully, that was it for Kenny."

Bartel said Hill, 19, faithfully trained with him during his suspension, in the time between summer workouts with his teammates in College Station and in the span leading to camp.

"He progressed, and when he came back home right before training camp, I knew with the first five throws he was on point - with his footwork, his purposefulness, the way he attacked," Bartel said. "When he left for training camp, I told his dad there was no doubt Kenny had matured and was a different kid than he was in May. That's all a credit to Kenny."